A Fresh Start
by YandereYukiko
Summary: They were once childhood friends but so much has changed for both Ruby and Weiss. When they meet for the first time in nine years, sparks fly but not necessarily in a good way.A mostly real-world setting in University. White Rose story line.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and thank you for reading my story. I'm well aware that the whole university white rose setting isn't very original but I really just enjoy it so much that I had to write my own. Please let me know what you think in reviews or PMs, I can't improve or fix something if I don't know there is a problem. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

* * *

"Wait for me!" the little girl yelled as she struggled to catch up to her friend who was already near the top of the hill. Her voice seemed hoarse but the huge smile plastered on her face dispelled any idea that she wasn't enjoying herself.

The other girl turned at the plea and returned a smile of her own, revealing several missing teeth with growing replacements. Her dark hair had the slightest hint of red towards the tips that seemed to glow in the sunlight.

"Hurry up slowpoke." she called back, laughing as her white haired friend closed the distance between them.

It took nearly ten seconds but the girls were eventually reunited at the top of the hill and fell simultaneously to the ground. Both the winner and loser of the impromptu race breathed heavily as they looked at the sky and recovered.

It was several minutes before either of them spoke, but eventually the second place contender broke the silence.

"I swear you get faster everytime, I could've beaten you two months ago."

"Yeah." The darker haired girl responded simply. While it was true that she had gotten faster, she wouldn't say that she was ever quite that slow.

With this they were silent once more, enjoying the slight breeze and soft grass. The white haired girl broke the silence again.

"I have to leave tomorrow." she stated. Her voice was quiet and managed to mask the majority of her sadness.

The other girl was not quite as circumspect as her friend and quickly sat up, her silver eyes locking onto the other's who just as quickly looked away to hide her developing tears.

"You can't go!" she blurted out "You just got here." She had no friends other than her older sister and making one this summer had made it an incredibly fun time. A time that was apparently coming to an end, despite what she wanted.

"We were only here on vacation from Vale," the other girl answered "and we were supposed to leave a month ago with my father but I begged Mother to stay."

This knowledge did nothing to relieve the other girl who was now on the verge of tears herself. Both fought the urge and stood to look at the now setting sun in the distance, their original purpose in coming here.

" I have to be back before it gets dark."

"I know," the girl responded, her toothless smile a distant memory. She took hold of the other's hand. "We'll find each other again."

The way she said this brook no argument and the white haired girl didn't want to tell her otherwise.

"I know Ruby." she responded, not sharing her doubts.

Ruby must have sensed this though as she replied, "You'll see Weiss."

They stood there for another ten minutes watching the sun go down, hand in hand, before they began to walk back without saying a word.

It wasn't until they reached a turn in the road that Weiss needed to take to get back to her house that they let go each other. Weiss opened her mouth to say goodbye but was silenced by Ruby's shaking head. They stared for a moment, willing time to stop, before turning to go their separate ways. Neither would allow themselves to look back, but neither wanted to look forward.

* * *

**-9 Years Later-**

Ruby Rose took her first step on what she considered to be a brand new start. She had worked for the past three years to get a scholarship to a school away from where she had grown up and in the city. Now she would no longer be the awkward girl that was the sister of the famous Yang Xiao Long, here she could be whoever she wanted to. The whole awkward thing would just have to be worked around. Along with her sense of direction, where was she supposed to go?

Ruby had arrived on campus nearly fifteen minutes before and was struggling to comprehend the map that her only friend, Jaune, had drawn for her. He had arrived at the University a week before Ruby but was busy today with his newly acquired job. To help her out though, Jaune had crafted a map of the campus with what Ruby could only guess was his finger and scroll. The results were a mix of several geometric shapes and a snake that Ruby thought might have originally been a route for her to follow. Having no choice but to trust her friend's cartography skills, Ruby began to follow the squiggly.

* * *

Light peeked through the curtains of the dorm room and warmed Weiss' face as she slept peacefully. The cracked window allowed a slight breeze through that made her bed all the more comfortable. These and other factors combined to make it a perfect moment in the history of rest. A light smile developed on her face as the thought passed through her mind.

The smile disappeared and Weiss' eyes popped open.

"Oh no." She jumped up and was in the bathroom before her sheets even touched back down on the bed." . ." was her mantra as she rushed through her morning routine.

Weiss Schnee did not oversleep. Ever.

Staying up to prepare for the new semester had clearly not been the best of ideas. And now she was running late for her meeting with Professor Ozpin, hardly a good first impression for his new T.A.

If only her roommate hadn't graduated last semester, she thought while simultaneously drying off from her shower, putting her hair up and attempting to get clothes onto her body, she would have woken me up.

Only twelve minutes after the horrifying realization, Weiss was out the door of her room, a new record, and making her way out of the building. She threw her carrying bag over her shoulder and cursed her proclivity for heels as she attempted to hurry to the professor's office.

* * *

That fountain definitely looked familiar. I wonder if they just took a template and put them up everywhere on campus? Or I'm lost...yeah I'm lost.

Ruby's thoughts grew increasingly resigned as her trust in the squigly faded. She had circled around twice now and was no closer to either the dorms to drop off her small amount of luggage or the lecture hall that would host the new student orientation.

Looking at her scroll again, she closed the picture file of the "map" and checked the time. Just ten more minutes until the start of the orientation, she needed to hurry.

Noticing a large group of students walking in one direction, Ruby decided to take the chance and count on the herd. She began to dash in their direction, hoping that they were going to same place.

Maybe one of them will know where to go anyway, Ruby thought, pretending that appealing to a total stranger didn't scare her a little. She was a new person here. Not awkward. Not shy. Normal. Her resolve strengthened, Ruby doubled her speed and began to close the distance.

Suddenly an obstacle appeared directly in front like a white blur, it happened to fast for her to stop and before Ruby could do anything; she found herself on the ground. A distinct pain shot up as she impacted and all she could manage was an "owwwwww."

"Ow?" a girls voice spoke and Ruby opened her eyes to see the obstacle that had appeared - now on the ground in mirror to herself. "Is that all you have to say for self?"

The girl she had impacted had the prettiest light-blue eyes Ruby had ever seen, now narrowed into the most annoyed look she had ever seen.

"S-sorry?" Ruby asked, slightly off kilter from the aggressive reaction of the other girl.

"Sorry isn't going to wind back time." the girl stated as she stood and dusted off her white skirt and top, then adjusted her bag.

"I was just in a hurry is all princess." Ruby burst out in response to her rudeness. It also didn't help that she was still on the ground and feeling rather inferior with her blue jeans and black top with her old red hoodie on. "I said I was sorry."

The girl looked up from herself as Ruby finished and simply stared, making Ruby feel even more uncomfortable. A look of confusion and then sadness seemed to cross over the girl's face in an instant before she reasserted cold look and began to walk away.

"Well, make sure you're more careful in the future." was all she said as she continued on her way.

Ruby gawked for a moment longer, surprised at the rudeness of a girl she had just met before standing up. "This day just gets better and better." she said to herself "Oh!"

Ruby rushed to catch up to the herd of students she had been following.

* * *

Weiss continued on to her meeting, conscious of the time but with her mind in a jumble of conflicting thoughts and emotions.

Ruby didn't remember her, at least not as quickly as Weiss recognized her. It hurt, yes, but the logical part of Weiss was fighting that and telling her that it had been nine years and plenty of things had probably happened to Ruby since their summer together. She had probably made tons of friends since then too. There was no reason she should be so hung up on a friend she made as a child after all. Weiss sighed at her own life since that summer and shook her head to clear it. She was at the professor's office.

* * *

**To Be Continued **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who liked and followed the last chapter, I hope I can keep your attention with this and future ones. As always, please enjoy and let me know what you think.**

* * *

Ruby continued as she had for the past hour and a half - slipping between the auditorium and the world of adventure and danger that her mind liked to travel to. She has tried to stay attentive at first, as always, but eventually the talk of schedules, extra-curriculars and other probably important things wore on her down.

And so here she was once again drifting back and hearing what seemed to be a conclusion to the orientation as the blonde woman who had been speaking shuffled her papers and looked around the room.

"Now, if you have any other questions please feel free to consult the student resource center located next to Scarlatina Hall." She began to move away from the podium but turned back, seeming to have forgotten something. "If you live in the dorm and didn't have the foresight to arrange a room before now, the Dormitory Leader's will be able to assign you one. They should be waiting for your arrival now."

With that said, the woman finished walking off and all of the students began to rise. Ruby joined them but reached under her seat to retrieve the suitcase that she had stashed before the orientation began.

Gripping it and struggling to pull it out from under the seat, Ruby cursed her past self for orchestrating this situation. The students around her gave passing glances, some good humored, others mocking, Ruby didn't care. She did her best to ignore them and continue with her efforts until it eventually popped out.

Ruby's arms flew upward as she continued to grip the handle and she quickly brought them down, a little conscious of how silly THAT actually looked.

With her baggage in tow, Ruby finally joined the procession of other first year students and began to make her way out of the auditorium.

"Here I go again." she muttered to herself as she scanned the myriad of directions her dorm could be in.

Having learned her lesson from the morning though, Ruby quickly found someone who seemed to know where they were going. A rather tall student with the weirdest pink streak in his hair was walking by her with enough determination in his eye that Ruby figured he had to know something...or at least have a real map. Jaune.

"Um, excuse me." Ruby stated, touching his arm.

The guy turned back around and Ruby took a small swallow, meeting new people wasn't the easiest of things for her.

"Could you tell me where building 1301 is?" she asked, her left hand fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.

"Hm," he seemed to take a moment to process the question "Uh, yeah." His voice was quiet but seemed friendly enough to Ruby. "It's right over there by..."

He cut his answer short as a high pitched yell came towards their direction.

"Reeeeennnnnn!"

The guy cringed slightly as he glanced towards the direction of the call.

"We're gonna be late for the party!"

He sighed and muttered "It's not a party..." before looking back at Ruby. "Sorry, like I was saying, it's just past the fountain over there." He pointed in the distance towards Ruby's least favorite landmark. "Just make a left at the first turn in the walkway and you'll see the building with the number above the entrance."

"Thank you so much." Ruby returned, somehow excited that she actually knew where to go now.

"Yeah, no problem." he smiled back.

"Let's go! Go! Go!" the same voice called growing more excited, and his smile turned into a little smirk.

"I have to go." He said as he turned and began to walk towards the energy.

"Maybe this will all work out after all." Ruby said as she began the trek towards her future room and life.

* * *

"I don't think this is gonna work out after all." Professor Ozpin told her as he sipped his coffee across from Weiss in his office.

"Professor please," Weiss weighed in " I've been in two of your classes and have never been late to the class or with an assignment. I'm sure you realize my being late was just some freak occurrence."

She had been nearly forty minutes late in the end and the Professor had not exactly been pleased. Not that he was angry either, Weiss was quick to remind herself, she had never really seen Ozpin angry. He just projected that soul crushing aura of disappointment that parents had perfected millenia ago for their small children.

"I do realize that Miss Schnee." he responded "but we were talking about your schedule not your tardiness to our meeting."

Oh. Her little reunion had clearly affected her thinking if she couldn't even keep up with this conversation.

"I know it may seem a little clustered." she chimed in

"You are taking two more classes than a normal student would in your position," Ozpin was quick to add "along with your TA duties."

Weiss knew he had her there. Perhaps her schedule was a little...ambitious. But given the lack of social activity her first year, she figured the classes would be a good way to occupy herself. And avoid a trip or two home. But now she seemed to be caught and didn't want to admit her true reasons.

"I understand professor." she replied, adopting her polite but professional smile that she had learned early on in her household. "I'll drop a class but would like to continue being your TA."

Ozpin raised his eyebrow at this and took a sip of his coffee, seemingly contemplating her words.

"That will work." he stated as he set his cup down "But if I begin to sense too much stress on you or that you are underperforming, I will find a replacement."

"Thank you Professor, that's completely reasonable."

Weiss stood up and picked up her bag from beside her chair.

"I'll see in two days Miss Schnee." he stated, dismissing her.

"See you then Professor." she replied while exiting the office.

Weiss' short heals cracked down the hall as she made her way out of the building. It was a struggle for her to organize her thoughts as she did this, the events of the day thus far all clouding together.

First, she had woken up late, then ran into Ruby after nine whole years and now she had to figure out which class she would be dropping. All in all, this had been a rather unpleasant day thus far and it was only lunch time.

Lunch. Weiss' stomach grumbled at the idea.

Some take out from her favorite Chinese place was exactly what she needed to turn this day around. A small indulgence to be sure, but treating herself to unhealthy food was something Weiss always found uplifted her spirits.

The campus was relatively small and it had been faster to walk to Ozpin's office, but now she needed to go back towards her dorm and get her car if she wanted to eat.

And so Weiss continued towards the dorms on autopilot, her mind processing all that had happened this morning.

Running into Ruby had been the greatest surprise of the morning, and Weiss regretted her rudeness to her. She had been shocked and then hurt that she recognized Ruby right away but she had apparently forgotten her.

She had always used coldness and her words to keep people at arms distance, ever since her mother died at least. When the accident happened five years ago, any semblance of warmth in her household disappeared. Her father, who had always been mostly absent before, became overbearing in his efforts to compensate for their lost mother. Always demanding more from Weiss and her sister Winter but never being satisfied.

Between all of the schooling and lack of a social life outside of the parties filled with pretension, vultures and false flattery, Weiss had simply given up on other people. She could never tell if they were genuinely interested in her or her position before it was too late. So instead she began to focus on the more important things, like she should be doing now her inner voice chimed in.

All of this self-reflection couldn't be healthy she thought, I need to forget about Ruby and focus on normality- it seemed to have worked for her...

* * *

"If you were too stupid to get a room already then yes, you are at the right place."

Ruby stood in front of the makeshift sign in front of her destination and next to a a girl with a scroll who appeared to be a few years older than herself.

She sat with her left leg over her right as she swiped through whatever was on her scroll. She seemed to Ruby much like the white haired girl she had encountered earlier - confident and sophisticated with her fashionable orange shirt with a brown scarf and beret, corset and even sunglasses. Not to mention the various other accessories she seemed to be wearing. Did everyone at this school dress like they were in a freaking magazine Ruby thought to herself and she prepared to speak.

"Excuse me." she ventured quietly, too quietly as the girl was clearly focused on the screen of her scroll.

After a moment of silence, Ruby let out a loud cough that caught the girl's attention. She put down her scroll and lowered her sunglasses to glance up at Ruby.

"Are you stupid?" she questioned, but with a slight smile that betrayed her lack of animosity.

Ruby decided to play along.

"Going by your incredibly professional and well-made sign, yes I suppose I am."

"Great!" the girl replied as she stood up and turned the sign around to reveal the alternate message of "Busy. Come back when I'm not." She began to walk into the building and motioned Ruby to follow.

"I'm Coco, your dorm leader." she spoke while consulting her scroll "I'll be assigning your room and if you ever have issues in the dorms let me know." She handed Ruby a piece of paper that seemed to come from nowhere. "These are the basic rules of living in the dorms, I know you got something similar when you enrolled but these are my rules and breaking one of them will land your ass in a whole more trouble than the ones you got before."

Ruby simply nodded as she scanned the paper and tried to keep up with the increasing pace.

"Now," Coco continued "which room will you be getting?"

They continued to walk while Coco looked through a roster of available rooms before she stopped in front of a staircase.

"Oh yeah." she said as a catlike smile developed on her face "she definitely needs a roommate."

They began to walk up stairs and Coco addressed Ruby directly.

"You'll be on the second floor and I'm sure you'll get along just fine with your roommate."

She stopped abruptly and Ruby nearly tripped over herself trying not to bump into her.

"This is our room." she held out her hand "Scroll please."

Ruby complied and watched as the dorm leader tapped on both of their scrolls.

"This will serve as your room key." she said while handing it back "Now let's meet your new friend."

Ruby took the hint and waved her scroll in front of the door, she heard a click and pulled it open. The two of them entered and a barely audible "aw" came from Coco as they realized that the mystery roommate wasn't here.

"I was really hoping to see her reaction." she explained while turning back towards the door "Oh well, have fun this year and see you around." She walked out the door with her hand in the air in a lazy wave goodbye.

"Okay." Ruby spoke aloud to herself while looking around the room. It consisted of two beds on either side beneath the lone window, two desks in front of their respective beds, two closets and a single bathroom. Not bad at all.

She glanced over at the made bed as put her things onto the empty one. The sheets were pure white with a light blue blanket but looked to be made of the most comfortable material.

i would love to sleep in that, she thought to herself before going back to unpacking.

Ruby hadn't brought much herself since she had traveled by train and bus from her home,. The rest of her things had been sent ahead to Jaune who would bring it over when he got a chance.

For now, she had her lone suitcase and backpack to unload. unzipping them, Ruby set to work but began to wonder about her roommate as she went about mindlessly putting away the clothes. She would be Ruby's first new friend here.

* * *

Weiss entered her dorm with a bag of delicious oriental trans fats just waiting to be consumed. Her mouth had watered the entire drive back as the car was suffused with the smell. Her day was already on a positive climb with this and her decision on which class to drop, Humanities, had been another step upward.

She climbed the flight of stairs to her floor but immediately sensed something amiss. She couldn't place it right away, like when she entered her room back home and could always tell when something had been moved. It was simply her being sure that something was definitely different. Weiss made her way slowly down the hall, trying to figure out where this feeling was coming from. It wasn't until she saw the open door that she knew what had happened.

She had a new roommate.

Weiss was well aware that this was likely but still, why today? When nobody had moved in over the past couple of weeks when the large influx of new students arrived, Weiss had assumed she'd dodged the bullet for a while. She had been overly optimistic apparently.

As she proceeded down the hall , every horrible possibility began to pop into her head.

What if she snored?

Or was a slob?

There were too many variables.

Weiss approached the door, resigned to her fate.

* * *

Done with unpacking until Jaune brought the remainder of her things, Ruby sat her bed and decided to figure out her next step. Her resolve to do this disappeared, however, as soon as her attention drifted to the other side of the room.

It was so neat and organized with but with so little personalization.

The lone personal effect that Ruby could see was a small silver bracelet sitting in front of the bedside lamp. She sat up and began to approach it, a sense of something pushing on the back of her mind compelling her forward.

On closer examination it had a charm dangling from it, Ruby picked up the bracelet to get a better look at it and saw that it was a small white flower.

Her brow creased as she attempted to figure out the strange feeling that had overtaken her.

The sound of something hitting the floor behind her startled Ruby suddenly, and she dropped the bracelet back onto the nightstand.

She turned to face the source of the surprise and came to face the same white haired girl who had been so rude to her earlier that day. It didn't take either of them long to figure out what each others presence in the room meant.

"Oh no." came the their response to the conclusion in unison.

* * *

**DunDunDuuuunnnnnn. Well, now that the setup is complete, I'm pretty excited to actually write interactions between the two. Thank you for reading this far, I hope to get an additional chapter out next week.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Writing is hard. Especially when you attempt to do it consistently. I'd like to thank everyone who has followed the story and I will continue to update as I am able. Work is a little less hectic than before so hopefully that means once a week. As always, I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 3

Ruby stood atop a grassy hill, looking down towards its base. It was a beautiful day out and the sunshine alone brought a smile to her face as she watched a figure towards the bottom of the hill make its way up.

"Hurry up slowpoke." she shouted towards the person she could now tell was a little girl, no more than ten or eleven years old. Her white hair seemed to reflect the sun and stood in stark contrast to the light green of the hill she was attempting to run up..

Ruby wasn't sure why she had shouted down at her. Had they been racing? Who was she? Ruby squinted to try and get a better look at the girl, but couldn't discern any facial features. Strange.

She waited until the girl was closer and blinked rapidly before attempting to refocus, but again her features were indistinguishable. Ruby began to grow anxious as the girl grew closer. What was happening?

As her thoughts grew more worried, the sky began to darken above her and Ruby's heart began to pound in her chest. Something was wrong here. This place wasn't right.

The girl was in front of her now.

How? she thought, standing completely still and looking at the little white haired girl.

"Who are you?" she asked, doing her best to restore some sense of calm.

The girl simply tilted her head to the side in confusion. Ruby was about to repeat her question when a noise in the distance drew her attention.

Loud. Shrill. Non-stop. The noise grew louder and louder the more Ruby focused on it. She tried to ignore it instead and returned her attention to the girl who was now moving away.

"Wait! Ruby pleaded, trying to run after her but feeling sluggish in her movements. Her legs wouldn't move and Ruby could only watch as the girl grew further away.

The noise grew louder and louder as darkness began to close around her and block out the girl's retreating figure.

"NO!." Ruby tried to push back. "NO!"

* * *

Ruby was lightheaded from sitting up so fast and the sudden intake of air from her gasp. She struggled to slow her breathing and felt sick from the thin layer of sweat her tank top had managed to absorb.

A lingering feeling of disquiet filled her as she looked around her dorm room, a small part of her mind still in the process of returning to reality.

Alone, she thought to herself, relief replacing the remaining emotions from her dream. Over the past week, Ruby had woken up every morning alone in the room and was usually a little sad. Today however she was glad Weiss had not been here to see her little outburst.

What the heck was that anyway? Ruby pondered as she shambled to the shower. Her alarm was set for nine and her first class was at ten-thirty, nearly two hours after Weiss'. She must have fought the noise harder than she thought though as the clock showed a glaring nine-thirty three. Ruby had to speed up her routine now if she was going to be on time and moved quickly to the shower.

The shower did exactly what Ruby hoped it would - washing away the leftover feelings from her dream and putting her in a brighter mood for the day. It always amazed Ruby how much more clearly she was able to think in the shower and this morning she was determined to take advantage of the magic.

She had been here for an entire week and yet to make a new friend in any of her classes or to really accomplish anything she had set out to by attending somewhere so far from home. If anything she was moving backwards. Weiss was being difficult when it came to befriending her to say the least.

""Negative one friend." She mumbled under the spray of water as she thought of Weiss. Interactions with the girl had been limited to greetings and Weiss' one word responses to Ruby's questions. Really, her ability to answer anything with a yes or no had come to amaze Ruby. During one of the rare exceptions to this, when Ruby had inquired about her classes, Weiss had told her that she had an early morning class at eight-thirty but there was no way that was everyday.. And on the rare occasion when they are both in the room, and conscious, she was always polite but distant. Ruby was growing increasingly confused as to why she seemed to avoid her. While trying to think of a way to make Weiss her friend, she was able to find one comfort - at least Weiss wasn't as mean as she had first feared.

"Ruby get out of that shower now!" Weiss shouted as she entered her room, angry and not at all in the mood for waiting. Mud dripped onto the carpet of the room and she cringed as the mess formed where she moved. This morning had not gone as planned and the shower already being occupied was simply not acceptable.

Weiss stood outside of their shared bathroom, listening to the noises of Ruby scrambling out of the shower. She heard the sound of several items hitting the floor, a slip and an umph as she tapped her foot impatiently. Weiss grew a little worried about the slip though as she slowly reached for the door handle but before she could grab it, the door was pulled open and Ruby stood in front of her, hair dripping and panic on her face.

"What's…?" Ruby began but stopped. The two stared at each other for several moments before Ruby let out a choked laugh at Weiss' mud covered state. "How…?" she began again but was interrupted as Weiss moved past her and closed the door.

"I don't want to talk about it." Weiss replied through the door as she turned the shower knobs, hoping that there was hot water in there somewhere. Taking off her ruined ensemble, she immediately contradicted herself to yell "I thought you were the only idiot clumsy enough to knock someone over in the middle of an open sidewalk."

"Uhhh, I guess I'm not as special as I thought." Ruby replied

"Apparently." Weiss stated as she stepped into the water "There is also a bumbling blonde guy walking around campus endangering the health of others."

"And the mud?"

"The incident managed to happen next to one of the only puddles leftover from two days ago." Weiss stated, referring to the thunderstorm that had passed over campus.

Ruby couldn't really think of anything else to say though she was hesitant to end what she thought might be the longest conversation the two had managed since the first day. At a loss, she blurted out the only question she could think of.

"So how is your day going?" Ruby realized how silly the question must have sounded and quickly added "I mean besides the whole mud thing…." She trailed off feeling ridiculous.

There was no response from Weiss so Ruby waited there in her towel, still wet. The clothes she had planned on wearing along with everything else she needed to get ready were all in the bathroom. And so she stood there waiting, awkwardly making faces to herself as her scattered mind attempted to occupy the time. Minutes passed as she continued with her time waster and Ruby didn't even notice the water shut off or door to the bathroom open until her self-distraction was interrupted by a not so subtle cough.

Ruby's face paused on what Weiss could only interpret as an imitation of a fish as she lowered her clenched hand from the feigned cough.

Ruby quickly returned her face to normal and tried desperately to force the creeping blush away.

"So all done?" she blurted out in an attempt to pretend Weiss hadn't seen her little display.

"What was that?" Weiss replied in kind, her voice rose in annoyance at Ruby's childish display. Her body was wrapped in a single large towel like Ruby's, her long white hair hanging loose as she stared at Ruby. "Hello? Are you listening?"

Ruby snapped out of her embarrassment focused on her roommate. "Sorry. It's just something I do sometimes. Making faces I mean. I don't know, it's just a thing I do when I need to pass the time and am alone. And I know it's weird but it started when I was a kid and by now I can't help it. It's like rambling, sometimes I just start talking and can't stop and I'm doing it right now and all I really want to do is finish getting ready in the bathroom and forget this ever happened." She took a much needed breath.

Weiss' eyes narrowed slightly in what Ruby could only imagine was a mix of confusion and anger.

"Than do it you dolt." She huffed while moving past Ruby and reaching towards her wardrobe.

"Yeah." Was all she managed in response before entering the bathroom.

"And Ruby…" Weiss began as she waited for Ruby to stop or turn "my day was fine until the mud." She went back to picking out a new outfit.

"Plus one?" Ruby asked herself as she went about finishing her routine.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, Ruby finished getting ready and exited the bathroom hoping that Weiss hadn't needed to get back in there for anything. She would hate to destroy her newfound hope for this friendship so soon by testing Weiss'…temperament.

Ruby took hesitant steps back into the shared room, not wanting to accidentally walk in on Weiss changing either. Honestly, I wish she would just become my best friend already so I didn't feel like I was walking on eggshells all the time, she thought while scanning the room but finding no trace of her future, if reluctant, friend.

"Where?" she stopped and continued looking around "How?"

Ruby was astounded that someone like Weiss was able to change and leave before she was. Even the mud that Weiss had trailed in was all cleaned up. She has got to be avoiding me Ruby thought, continuing towards her side of the room and getting her bag together to leave. Maybe she was just being polite before, Ruby let out a sigh at this possibility and made towards the door to leave.

Opening the door, Ruby blinked twice as fist about to knock stopped inches from her face. Peering around she came to see a rather lanky guy with blonde hair giving her a nervous smile. He was dressed in jeans and a wearing a hoodie making him look as plain as the most generalized of police sketches.

"Hey Jaune." She greeted her friend but with a confused look on her face "What's up?" They usually met up at lunch or something so it was strange for him to try and catch Ruby before she left.

"Heh heh," Jaune let out a short laugh as he scratched the back of his head "Hey Ruby, I need help with something and I'm not really sure who else to ask…." He trailed off towards the end as he suddenly discovered a fascination with the carpeting.

Ruby stared at him as she tried to come up with possible issues that could lead Jaune to ask her of all people for help.

"I have no idea who took all of the cookies from the cafeteria and I'm really sorry if they blamed you."

"No, it's not that." He answered, resigned "Even if I knew it was you." Jaune continued in a muted tone.

Pausing to think again Ruby continued "Um, modern medicine has done amazing things for people's private….problems. I'm sure the itching will go away too."

"What!?" Jaune burst out, returning eye contact to Ruby at last "NO! It's nothing like that."

At least that had worked she thought to herself.

"I figured Jaune." Ruby informed him smiling at her friend who was finally back to normal "So what DO you need help with?"

"Well I…I…" Jaune took several tries before finishing with "…need girl help."

"And?" Ruby deadpanned.

Jaune's eyes looked like they would pop. "AND?! I need advice and,well uh other stuff I guess."

"I'm not exactly the most qualified to give girl advice Jaune." She responded while motioning down the hall. Class started in twenty-minutes and she needed to make this conversation mobile.

"Yeah but you're a girl." Jaune stated, following behind her down the stairs

"I do in fact lack in the Y-chromosome department."

"I mean yeah you're a girl but you also like them. So I figured….OOF" Jaune ran into Ruby's back as she suddenly stopped at the bottom of the stairs before turning back to him.

"Jaune!"

"What, it's not like you're in the closet or anything." He responded dumbfounded at her reaction. Ruby had come out to him after he had asked her to the Senior prom in high-school and years of him hinting that he wanted to be more than friends for a while before that. Soon after she had come out to her family and hadn't regretted it for an instant. Ruby now had a sense of freedom without her secret and she still got to go with Jaune to prom, though only as friends.

"I know but…" Ruby hesitated as she thought of how to articulate her feelings "I just want people to know Ruby the girl before Ruby the lesbian okay?" Jaune nodded but with a look that showed his lack of understanding. As long as he didn't go around broadcasting it his understanding doesn't matter, Ruby told herself. "Besides, I want to be the one to tell people not some conversation in the hall."

"Okay, okay I get it Ruby. But I could still use some advice about Pyrrha." Jaune pleaded.

"Pyrrha Nikos?" a familiar voice asked from behind Ruby "The track star?"

"Yeah." Jaune answered automatically as they both turned to face the speaker "Oh no."

"You!" Weiss shouted as she looked at Jaune "Do you have any idea how ruined my clothes are from your clumsiness?"

Jaune quickly moved behind Ruby, attempting to hide from what was surely a repeat from earlier that day and Ruby felt a need to save him from Weiss' wrath. "I didn't realize that was Jaune from your story Weiss." She cut in with as friendly a voice as possible in an attempt to diffuse the situation "What a funny coincidence that will surely serve as a bonding experience for all of us."

Ruby looked to Weiss with a plea in her eyes for peace that she hoped the girl would interpret. She must have gotten the signal as her expression turned from anger and softened into what Ruby thought was understanding.

"Riiiight." Weiss spoke up, eyes still locked on Ruby "Well just make sure you are more careful in the future." She looked to Jaune as she said this and began to move past the duo up the stairs. "Oh and if a clutz like you gets Pyrrha Nikos, I'll eat at McDonalds." She let out a laugh at the prospect before disappearing.

The two of them watched her go up the stairs before Jaune muttered "Hardly a sacrifice."

Hearing this, Ruby couldn't help but add "Oh you have no idea." At Jaune's look of interest she continued "On my second night here I brought back McDonalds to the room and she went into half hour long lecture on nutrition and food processing."

"Wow, you're roommates with that bitch?" Jaune asked.

"She is not a bitch Jaune." Ruby spoke up, feeling angry at Jaune's words and shoving him roughly in the arm. She didn't know why she felt so offended on Weiss' behalf but Ruby was sure her roommate didn't deserve that kind of language.

"Sorry, sorry jeez." Was all he had to say as they resumed their walk out of the dorm.

Ruby didn't feel like helping him at the moment after his choice of words and excused herself. "Look, I have to be in class soon Jaune, we can talk about Pyrhha later okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Ruby." He answered, disappointment evident. "But you better use this time to brainstorm some incredible pickup lines." The usual optimism returned to his voice though Ruby sensed it was forced.

"I think it's going to take a little bit more than a pick up line Jaune." Ruby returned his smile and began to jog away "But I'll think of something!"

As he watched his friend grow more distant, Jaune took in a breath and muttered "Figures, the first girl I like ends up being gay and the second is so out of my league she's playing a different sport." He turned and looked down at his watch, a family heirloom. "Oh crap, I'm gonna be late!"

* * *

Weiss watched the blonde idiot, Jaune she thought she heard Ruby call him, as he sprinted off towards the lecture halls. He was probably late she thought before turning away from the window. Grabbing her binder full of notes and project ideas, Weiss made to exit the room again. She had been in such a hurry to get out of the room before Ruby was done, she had forgotten the damn thing.

"This really has to stop." She spoke to herself "Just become friends again, so what if she doesn't remember you, start over."

But she won't like who you are now.

The thought came from nowhere and Weiss forced it away. If those trademark puppy dog eyes that Ruby had thrown her way to prevent her tirade towards her friend were any indication, Ruby hadn't really changed too much. That meant she was still too naïve and optimistic to not like anyone.

Besides, Weiss thought, even if I try to fight her those eyes will wear me down eventually. It really isn't fair at all.

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**Author's note: This chapter was a little more Ruby-centric than before but I wanted to try and convey her sense of distance from Weiss and am not creative enough to do it in any other way than creating a similar distance between Weiss and the reader. Ruby being open with herself about being gay has always made sense to me because of how supportive her home life seemed, this being the "real" world also led me to see her realizing this fairly early on as opposed to the series where she never really had the opportunity for romantic interests. Weiss is the polar opposite though, she is afraid to look inward because she fears becoming like her father and this combined with her lack of romantic activities and attempts to occupy her time with worthwhile pursuits has led her to either deny it entirely to herself or literally never even think of Review and let me know what you think. I hope to see you next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Greetings and thank you for returning to a new chapter. Before you start however I would like to point something out, in this chapter I feature a view on a character that I borrow from another FanFic "Brand New World" by NobleMETA. If you haven't read any of their stuff yet you should, it's much better than mine. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy and will see you at the notes below.**

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CHAPTER 4

Weiss entered her dorm building later that night, tired and looking forward to a night of sleep. Not wanting to return to her room after classes, Weiss had elected to stay in the library and do her assignments. But now that she was caught up on the next week's readings and done with homework, Weiss had ran out of distractions to avoid the room.

You can't resolve to fix this whole friendship thing and than avoid her anyway, Weiss scolded herself as she made her way down the hall. Ruby seems to be the same girl from before and she'll always be nice to you no matter what. She was rather like a dog that way, Weiss laughed at her own joke. Realizing that she had stopped in front of the room, Weiss held up her scroll and entered it.

Ruby immediately popped up from her desk turned to her.

"Weiss, you're back." her roommate smiled as she made the obvious observation. Something was up.

"Yeah, it's been a long day." she returned, setting her bag besides her bed and moving towards their shared mini-fridge.

"Uh, Weiss?" Ruby spoke up before she reached it. Weiss turned and raised an eyebrow, something was definitely going on here. "I may have...uh...eaten your fruit salad and that weird spread with the bread..."

"You what!" Weiss shouted, she had skipped dinner by accident and the food she had in there was her only hope of not starving.

"I'm SO sorry." Ruby pleaded "but I was going to die and I didn't want to leave without finishing an assignment cuz I know if I leave and come back I'll never be able to refocus and finish it. So I looked in the fridge out of desperation and your stuff was there just begging to be eaten by someone. I know I shouldn't of but...but...but..."

"Ruby!" Weiss interrupted her little rant "I get it okay?" This wasn't fair. Whoever trained her in the art of puppy dog eyes should be hunted down for developing such a devastating weapon. But now what was Weiss supposed to do for dinner?

"I'll make it up to you though." Ruby's demeanor flipped back into her usual chipper self "Let's go get dinner together. My treat."

Weiss' initial reaction was to say no, but she reminded herself of her new resolve to befriend Ruby, or at least be nicer...Dinner was certainly a start. "Very well." she had to suppress a laugh at the other girl's instant glee. Ruby really hasn't changed. "But no fast food." Weiss added quickly. God forbid Ruby forgot her impromptu instruction on the dangers of such a diet.

"Don't worry, I know just the place." Ruby made her way to the door, grabbing her jacket "But, uh, you have to drive." She looked uncomfortable at this, as if she expected her to refuse. I haven't been that mean to her have I?

"Let's get going then." Weiss said to assure her, plus she wanted to be back in time to get some actual

sleep tonight. With Weiss' approval, Ruby began moving again, laughing to herself as him she was in on some joke that Weiss didn't understand. Shrugging it off as one her many eccentricities, Weiss followed her out, having to walk uncomfortably fast in order to keep up with the girl's seemingly boundless energy.

It took them less than five minutes from Ruby's suggestion to them getting on the road. Despite her asking, Ruby refused to divulge where they were actually going, only giving her directions as needed. Eventually they pulled up into a small parking lot in front of what Weiss assumed was a restaurant. She couldn't be entirely sure, as the usual display of signs and the name of the place was nowhere to be seen. "Ruby, are you sure you want to eat here?" Weiss asked, growing nervous. This place didn't exactly look "up-scale".

"Trust me Weiss," Ruby turned to her smiling "I know how it looks but my Uncle brought me here when I visited him once."

Slightly assured, Weiss continued to follow her to the entrance. "Your Uncle?"

"Yeah, my Uncle Qrow. He used to be a professor at the University."

"Used to?" Weiss asked, curious.

"Oh well he had to leave and came to help take care of Yang and me after..." Ruby cut herself off and looked lost in thought . Weiss was about to ask more but didn't have the chance as finally entered the restaurant.

She was stunned. There was no other word for it. Weiss couldn't believe how different the interior of the building looked compared to the outside. The well lit interior revealed a classic English pub setting with smooth wood furnishing and a wait staff looking excited as they bustled through the surprisingly busy restaurant. "Wow." was all Weiss could articulate, maybe she shouldn't be so quick to judge.

"Is that Ruby Rose I spy?" a boisterous voice asked as they waited to be seated.

"Professor Port?" Ruby replied in kind "I didn't think you would recognize." The two shared a brief laugh and in that time Weiss realized who it was that had approached them. Professor Port was a renowned Biology professor at the University and someone whom Weiss had not had a great first experience with.

"Of course I do dear, Old Qrow would always talk about you and Yang when he lived here." Port assured Ruby, wrapping an arm around the girl. "Not to mention your last visit was fairly memorable." The two of them shared a conspiratorial look before he continued "Since you're here, may I assume that I will have the pleasure of seeing you in one of my classes soon?"

Ruby continued to smile as he led them to a table "Not this semester, but I will need to take Biology eventually."

"Good. Good." Port stayed standing as the two took their seats "Why I remember when I was just starting out in University, so full of potential and energy. Why, one time when I was.."

"Excuse me, Professor but I think I should take their orders now." a female voice cut in as a waitress stepped in front of the professor.

"Oh of course, of course." he stated "Well, it was nice seeing you again Ruby," the professor finaly looked at Weiss "and you too Miss Schnee."

"Likewise Professor." she replied as he turned to leave.

The duo looked to the waitress and Ruby spoke up "Thank you so much. I love the man like an uncle but he can just never stop at a point."

"Don't worry, saving patrons is part of my job description." the waitress smiled back "So should we start with some drinks?"

Ruby couldn't believe her plan had worked, well of course it worked but it had gone so smoothly. She would of bet anything that Weiss would put up some resistance but she had agreed right away. She did feel a little bad about eating her food, but it was for the greater good of their future friendship. A fruit salad for a peaceful dorm? Yes, please.

Her plan was full proof after all, it was as simple as packing an extra pudding cup in kindergarten. No one, not even Weiss Schnee could fight friendship after a shared, and paid for, meal. Ruby was quite proud of herself, maybe this whole friend making thing was a lot easier than she had been thinking.

"Ruby?"

Yes a perfect plan. She really was a genius.

"RUBY?"

"Huh?" Ruby looked up from her meal and into Weiss' eyes. "Did you say something?"

"I was asking why you have that ridiculous smile on your face?" Weiss' voice sounded annoyed but the smile she was doing her best to suppress showed her amusement at Ruby's drifting thoughts.

Ruby couldn't tell her about how ingenious she was at this whole friend making business and so settled on the not completely dishonest answer of "I'm just having a good time is all." After all she had been enjoying herself over the past thirty or so minutes. The two had settled into conversation about their classes and shared their favorite and least favorite professors. Weiss had even told Ruby about first meeting Professor Port and doing her best to get a new lab partner in his class. This sounded a lot like a tantrum to Ruby but she didn't want to spoil the mood. Long story short though, Weiss ended up keeping her partner and having a very awkward relationship with the professor for the rest of the class.

Weiss stared at her for a moment as if trying to discern whether or not Ruby was lying. After a moment she seemed to have decided and replied "I am too, thank you for treating me."

"You're welcome." Ruby said, not wanting to remind her that she was the reason they were out anyway.

The two them settled back into eating and polite silence before Weiss broke it with a question Ruby didn't expect.

"So why did your Uncle have to help take care of you and your sister?" Weiss asked innocently.

Ruby didn't like talking about it but if she ever wanted Weiss to open up then she would have to do the same. "He came to help my dad after our mom died." Ruby stated this simply, after all she had talked about it before but she still struggled to suppress tears at the memory.

Weiss seemed to regret asking but said "I'm so sorry Ruby. I didn't realize..."

"It's fine." Ruby cut off her apology "You didn't know and I'm the one that brought it up earlier anyway." She went back to eating.

"Still," Weiss touched her hand to Ruby's across the table "I'm sorry."

Ruby was stunned, not expecting comfort from Weiss. "Th...Thank you Weiss. That really does mean a lot."

Weiss withdrew her hand and Ruby missed the warmth immediately. "Of course you dolt." Weiss spoke up blushing and clearly not comfortable with the whole empathy thing. "Now let's finish eating, it's getting pretty late."

"Yup!" was all Ruby said as she returned to her meal.

They returned to their dorm later that night, full and collectively sleepy. Weiss had not been expecting to have such a nice time and couldn't help but mention so to Ruby as they walked in their room.

"I live to defy your expectations." Ruby responded

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about my expectations." Weiss muttered as she changed into pajamas.

"Did you say something Weiss?"

Weiss jumped slightly, unaware she could hear "No, nothing Ruby. Goodnight."

"Ok, goodnight then." Ruby spoke from beneath her covers.

Both girls went to bed that night chalking up the evening as a success on their part. They both really were geniuses at this whole friend making thing.

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it's a little short but the way I write is sort of just typing scenes that play in my head...lack of planning is a problem I'm working on in regards to writing. Usually my way results in jumping from event to event and so I am purposely trying to keep this story slow as they develop along with my writing. Don't worry though, all good things will come in time. Now that, I do have planned. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and please favorite/follow/ review or whatever else suits your fancy. Until next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello again! Thank you so much for reading this far and a big thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favorite, and followed the story or myself. I know I've said this before but I do write to improve overtime so hopefully you notice an increase in quality in my future chapter/stories. But anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter please let me know what you think!**

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Chapter 5

The morning after her brilliant plan had come to fruition, Ruby Rose awoke in her dorm room surprisingly refreshed and ready to face the day. Her alarm continued to blare whatever pop song was popular on the radio, she had switched from the beeping tone, and Ruby simply lay there listening. The song really wasn't that bad, she thought as she mentally prepared herself to exit the comfort of her bed.

Ruby's surprise solace was disturbed by a shrill voice coming from across the room "Would you turn that terrible noise off!"

She had expected to wake up alone in the room like usual and Weiss' shout surprised Ruby into throwing her hand onto the alarm quickly. She nearly fell out of the bed in her rush to get to it and Ruby's heart still beat from the surprise company.

"S-sorry Weiss." Ruby apologized to her roommate, who was clearly not a morning person she noted. "I didn't expect you to be here this morning." Weiss didn't have class, Ruby was sure that she would never skip or sleep in. The question that popped into her mind then was Weiss being here due to the day or was she no longer avoiding her?

After a moment of silence Weiss answered with a muffled "I don't have class until this afternoon and skipped my morning run." The pillow she was addressing this into made her sound regretful over the decision but Ruby couldn't be sure if it was that or simply Weiss' reaction to her newfound state of being awake.

"Do you run every morning?" Ruby asked as she recovered from her near fall and got out of bed. Unlike Weiss, she had class this morning in about an hour and needed to get ready.

"I don't on the weekend." Weiss replied, rolling over onto her back and coming to the realization that she would not be going back to sleep this morning.

"Cool, uh," Ruby hesitated as she considered the question she wanted ask. Be brave. Last night was the first step and this could the second. She continued "maybe I could join you sometime. I'd like to avoid the whole freshman forty thing." Ruby let out a nervous laugh as the possibility of one of Weiss' firm "No's" loomed in her mind.

"Fine." Was all Weiss did say though and relief washed over Ruby. Her roommate wasn't finished though. "I'll wake you up in the morning. Shouldn't you be getting to class though instead of having this conversation?"

The fact that Weiss knew she had class caught Ruby off-guard but she really did need to start getting ready if she was to make on time. "Yeaaahhhh," Ruby drew out as she admitted this to herself. Talking to Weiss was just such a nice change though and she didn't want to surrender an opportunity but Ruby also knew that she had to do so now. Without another word, the brunette made her way into the bathroom, humming her morning wake up song. It really wasn't that bad at all.

* * *

Weiss was out of breath and feeling more tired than she had in a long time. The sun was rising in the direction she was facing on the road and seemed to be some sort of distant, unreachable goal. Sweat had begun to soak through her shorts and t-shirt a mile back and the usual enjoyment she found on her morning runs had slowly declined since that point. Instead it was replaced with the companionship of her running partner.

This morning marked the fourth run that Weiss and Ruby had gone on together and the former was reconsidering how often they did this. Her previous runs had been more about the solitude than actual physical fitness, Ruby however changed things dramatically. For someone who had expressed concern over weight gain, Ruby was incredibly athletic, seemingly never getting tired no matter the distance. Weiss had struggled to keep up for the past four days but Ruby had always made sure to stay by her and keep up her resolve.

"Are you still with me Weiss?" her partner asked, presenting an effortless smile that always disturbed Weiss in a way she couldn't really understand.

"I'm fine Ruby." She lied, not wanting to admit weakness.

Ruby looked concerned at her words though "Well, we're almost there, just another half mile I think." Her features suddenly developed into a mischievous grin. "You said you're fine right?

"Yes, Ruby." Weiss lied again between deep and rapid breathes "I am perfectly fine. Why I could keep going for miles." I am SO going to regret that.

"That's good." Ruby stated, retaining her grin "Because we're going to sprint to the finish."

"Wait, wha…" but Ruby was already off, rapidly increasing the distance between them. Damn it. Weiss took off too, trying to make her inevitable defeat a little less of a rout.

In and out. In and out. Control your breathing, Weiss. Don't die and more importantly, don't throw up.

"Are you still okay Weiss?" Ruby asked her she looked down on Weiss' prone form. Her breathing was barely heavier than average.

"Yeah." Deep breath. "Yeah…just….catching my…breath is all."

"You know, you don't need to act so tough in front of me." Ruby's smile transformed into a more serious look of concern "I shouldn't have done that stupid sprint at the end, I knew you were lying and just wanted to make you admit it. It was really immature of me."

"No, it's my fault Ruby." Weiss admitted as she sat up "I'm just so used to keeping a…..a mask on I guess you could say that it's hard for me to admit weakness." She couldn't look at Ruby as she confessed this, opening up was another thing she had never had much practice in and the act felt extremely uncomfortable.

The smile returned to Ruby's face. "Well you don't need to worry about that with me. We're friends Weiss and we don't need to pretend anything in front of each other."

How do you do that? Weiss wondered. How can you be so open and nice and manage to make it look so easy?

"We should head back now." Ruby spoke, bringing Weiss out of her thoughts "You have class in an hour and a half." Over the past week the two had done more than just run together, they had begun to eat lunch together every day and conversations occurred on a regular basis. The last one seemed silly but Weiss treasured it the most, talking to Ruby about anything that came to mind was such a change from her life until meeting her again. Their newfound friendship had led to them becoming quite familiar with each other's schedules, not that Weiss hadn't already known Ruby's. She had acquired her schedule shortly after she moved in so that she could be sure to work around it. Now her efforts proved fruitful in a different way.

"Yeah." Weiss agreed simply as Ruby helped her to her feet. The two began the short walk back to where Weiss had parked; there wasn't a decent route on campus to run so they had driven to a park a short distance away.

On the drive back Weiss asked Ruby about her running, she had been losing for four days and she needed to know the reason why.

"Pfft, it's not really losing Weiss. We run with each other, not against each other." Ruby commented, finding Weiss' question funny.

Everything is a competition Weiss thought, repeating her Father's words to herself. No. Stop it Weiss, he isn't here to control you. But still, it's hard to forget a lifetime of "teachings" so quickly.

"Still," Weiss started "you are way too good to just be a natural. I mean my runs weren't exactly hard before you started coming but they put me in pretty decent shape."

Ruby looked over to her before saying "You got me. I confess my performance enhanced nature, Detective."

"What?!" Weiss stopped the car at the turn before their dorm's parking lot "You cannot do drugs Ruby Rose, it doesn't matter what kind!"

Ruby burst out laughing so hard Weiss thought she may pop a blood vessel. "Weiss…I'm…I'm" she struggled to get out the words as she tried her best to get air into her lungs. "I'm sorry….it was a joke. I can't believe you thought I would use steroids!" Her smile was incredulous.

"Well of course you don't…" Weiss trailed off embarrassed for her outburst "It's just that you said you did and…and I didn't like the thought you doing something like that and…" She was unsure of what else to say.

"I get." Ruby managed between the lingering giggles "I really do Weiss. But we should probably park now if you want to shower and stuff."

Still embarrassed, Weiss didn't comment further and just pulled into the parking lot. She couldn't believe she had reacted like that to Ruby's joke. Really Weiss Schnee, that was hardly appropriate behavior to an obvious joke.

* * *

"I just don't get it Weiss. I'm sorry." Ruby stated for what seemed to be the hundredth time that afternoon. The library returned to deathly silence after she finished and promptly dropped her face onto the calculus textbook. Maybe osmosis was the way to go…

"You don't get it because you don't want to." Weiss shot back, clearly annoyed. They had been studying together for the past two hours with the past twenty minutes of dedicated calculus being the most stressful. Weiss, tired of Ruby always asking for help on a subject she had taken the previous year had instead offered to simply tutor her a little. This had turned out to be easier said than done on her part.

"I'm trying okay?" Ruby shot back, not appreciating the tone Weiss had used. Math had never come easy to her and having Weiss belittle her over it did nothing to improve her attitude towards it.

"If you were trying then you would understand by now." Weiss continued, her attitude unchanging "Now let's go over this again and try to pay attention this time."

Ruby felt her eyes begin to water and didn't want to say anything else. It had been nearly two months since she had moved in with Weiss and started classes. She had been doing well in all of her classes but only with a lot of work. The stress had slowly added up and Weiss' behavior towards her had only made it worse. Ruby did her best to hold back the tears and calm down as Weiss went over the lesson once again.

This continued for nearly two minutes before Weiss looked at her to make sure she was paying attention. Her look of annoyance immediately shifted into one of concern.

"Are you okay Ruby?" Weiss asked, placing her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Yeah…" Ruby closed eyes in another attempt to make the moisture disappear "I'm sorry, it's just stress I think. It's not your fault I'm being dumb."

"You are not dumb Ruby. Don't you ever say that again. Everyone struggles with studies sometimes and some subjects are harder for others." Weiss adopted a comforting smile as she spoke to her. When Weiss managed to actually smile it was one of the most beautiful things Ruby had ever seen. She immediately felt better as Weiss went on "I should have thought about that before snapping at you but it's only because I don't want you to fail."

"I know." Ruby muttered, a little embarrassed about almost crying in front of Weiss. Ruby knew that when Weiss was overly harsh on her it was because she wanted to help her succeed. On the rare occasion where she went too far, she had always been quick to apologize. Ruby didn't mind those times very much anyway as Weiss always had a genuine apologetic smile that made her eyes light up in concern - a small prize at the end of a berating. "It's getting late anyway." She continued "Let's stop for tonight."

"Fine." Weiss stated, not hiding her reluctance at all. Ruby could tell that Weiss didn't want to put off the work but she also knew that Weiss would put her first. That was one of the things she loved about her.

Ruby wondered if she should be shocked as these words traveled through her mind, but she wasn't. A part of Ruby had known these feelings for a while and finally admitting it to herself felt nice. Another, more pessimistic, part grew saddened at this realization though as Ruby told herself that there was no chance that Weiss would ever see her that way. Love from afar did not seem any fun at all….

"Are you coming or would you rather sit there and daydream?" Weiss asked sternly, standing next to the still seated Ruby.

"Yup, sorry." Ruby apologized while quickly gathering up her things "I was just thinking."

"Well do it on the way back to the room, dolt." Weiss turned and began to move towards the exit.

Nope, Ruby thought as she followed her newfound love, not a chance at all.

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**AN: I'm glad I was able to get another chapter out so quickly and I hope you enjoyed it. My goal in this chapter was to show snippets of Ruby's and Weiss' day to day together as their friendship develops. Weiss' attitude towards Ruby, I feel, has always been about helping her. Unfortunately for Ruby this ends up coming out as harsh at times but it is important for the two them that Ruby realizes this and doesn't react like Yang who simply views as mistreatment. I'm also fairly certain that Ruby likes the abuse to a degree...Anyyyyyyway I've managed to do something that I haven't before for a story, I have written a chapter ahead of time. So now I have chapter 7, it may end up being 8, ready and need to write what happens before; so that's nice. Once again, I thank you for reading and I hope you stick around through the rest of the story. Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Writing is hard. I've had the vast majority of this written for quite a while now and I am sorry that it took so long to post. In the future I will never post without having the entire story written out(Something I practiced and liked with the Frozen crossover). A lot will seem rushed or a little out of place in this and, once again, I apologize but I am going to tentatively mark this as complete with the possibility of adding more in the future. My mind has sort of wandered onto other story ideas and I hope to come back to this at some point. I hope you enjoy the story and, as always, let me know what you think(outside of the things I mentioned above). Thank you for reading and your patience, trust me when I say I have been hurt by my fair share of FF not being completed before and didn't want to do that to others. ****Also, it was a message from a fellow FF writer that made me realize I should do something instead of letting the story languish. I highly encourage you to check out NobleMETA, their stories are great and have this strange tendency of being completed and updated regularly. **

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Okay Jaune, you can do this. All you have to do is walk up to her and say some words. You've done it before and you can do it again. But I've never asked her out before. This is so different. Shut up, don't psyche yourself out. Pyrrha is the nicest girl you've ever met and even when she says no, it will be in a way that won't make your heart feel too broken. Wait, when? I mean if. Definitely an "if" kind of situation. Now just go and do it.

Jaune's thoughts warred in his mind as he sat on the edge of the school's courtyard fountain. He had been waging this war for nearly ten minutes while observing, in a totally not creepy way, the object of his affection. Asking should have been easy. Pyrrha had been part of Jaune's group of friends for a while now and the two of them were together constantly. But the idea of him, Jaune Arc, dating the track star known nationwide seemed so insane at times that he could write a T.V movie about it.

"Maybe I should just forget about her…" he muttered aloud. Jaune's feeling of dejection only seemed to grow with time as doubts crept deeper and deeper into his confidence.

"…yeaaahhhh, maybe I should." A girl's voice spoke next to him and Jaune began swinging his arms in to avoid falling into the water behind him. He had been so focused on the beautiful red head that he had not noticed that anyone had been next to him.

Regaining his composure, and any dignity that could be scrapped together, Jaune turned to the girl and was shocked to see Ruby sitting only three feet from him. He was about to speak when the look on her face drew his attention. Ruby seemed to be deep in thought as she stared ahead towards the school buildings.

Jaune followed her line of sight only to have a look of confusion develop on his face as his eyes came to rest on Weiss Schnee. He quickly looked back to his friend, then back to the cold-hearted heiress and then back to his friend to confirm the object of such deep thought. The look on Ruby's face told him everything he needed to know, having just wiped the look from his own and Jaune could not suppress his own surprise as he blurted out "You like Weiss!?"

It was Ruby's turn to jump now, though she was able to avoid the water without any feats of acrobatic balance. She turned to Jaune as she leapt up, putting her hands to his mouth and whispering "SHHHHHH!"

"MHMBY, HMHES MHMBERT ERR." Jaune attempted to say through her hand.

"What?" Ruby asked, confused but still not moving her hand from his face.

Jaune gently lifted her hands away before trying again.

"I said, Ruby, she is way over there." Jaune still couldn't believe what he had seen or Ruby's reaction and had to ask "How can you like that ice queen?"

A deep blush developed on Ruby's face as she looked towards the ground, embarrassed.

"W-well, it just sort of…happened." Ruby whispered to the ground "I know she can be a little mean sometimes and act cold. But, it's just Weiss' way of keeping people from getting too close. I'm not sure why she does it but I'm gonna find out. Besides, even when she does seem to be mean to me, it's only because she cares and wants me to live up to my potential. I mean, I'm pretty sure that I'm the closest friend that she's ever had and us meeting again has got to be destiny or something. "

Jaune stared as he processed what Ruby had said. Weiss being so hard on Ruby all of the time didn't seem to be a very "caring" thing to him. He doubted that Weiss was capable of actually caring about anyone. Not to mention…wait. "Did you say 'meet again'?"

"Yup!" Ruby answered, finally looking up and seeming to be back to her usual energetic self. "We hung out one summer when we were kids." Her smile fell suddenly as she continued "I don't think she remembers though…"

"Hmhm," Jaune sounded as he thought over how to word what he wanted to say "So you're telling me that you have a crush on a girl that you knew for a couple months years ago and who is a total biiii-mean person most of the time because she isn't REALLY mean and you think that meeting her again is destiny?" He couldn't hide his incredulity as he asked, but Jaune was worried for Ruby. Nothing good could come from loving a girl who would never return your feelings. Projecting much, he thought as the words left his mouth.

"That isn't what I said." Ruby defended quietly "…Is it?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Ruby." Jaune told her honestly. They had been friends for so long and Ruby was like a sister to him. Not to mention beating up someone who broke her heart would be more of a Yang thing than his, especially if it's a girl.

Sadness and longing returned to the girl's face as she turned back to see Weiss still talking to a professor that Ruby had yet to meet. "I won't get hurt Jaune. I know that Weiss would never like me that way so I'm not going to bother trying."

"That's no attitude to have either!" Jaune blurted without even thinking "You can't just let fear stop you from doing something that could potentially make you so happy."

"But, isn't that what you were telling me to do, like five seconds ago?" Ruby asked with a glint of mischief now in her eye.

"Well, yeah but," Jaune paused as he sensed where Ruby was going with this "You're a lot more clever than people give you credit for, Ruby Rose." She had been leading him to his own answer all along and Jaune had to admit that it had worked. He couldn't just let an opportunity like Pyrhha pass him by.

"I think you know what to do now." Ruby leaned in to speak behind her hand while pointing towards Pyrhha with the other. She had left whatever group she had been part of and was moving towards the dorms.

"I have to catch up to her!" Jaune panicked and began to run towards his crush. He turned around to say "Thanks Ru-mmmff" A sudden impact knocked him down and Jaune was on the ground before he knew what happened. He opened his mouth to apologize when it was beaten by a shrill voice.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" the all too familiar voice shouted from an equal level on the ground. Her objection was running through Jaune's mind as well as he peaked pass the agitated Weiss to see Pyrhha growing more distant. "Do you make it a habit of endangering the health of others or am I some sort of special case in your idiotic rampage of clumsiness?"

Jaune stood up, barely hearing the words being thrown at him as he proceeded on his way. He managed to mumble sorry and something about not having the time as he began to run. Weiss would get over it, Jaune figured, besides it wasn't like he was one-hundred percent sorry anyway.

"Why, of all the no-good, rude, idiotic things that…" Weiss began to rant to herself but stopped as an open hand appeared in front of her face. She redirected her gaze to see a nervously smiling Ruby looking down at her. Taking her offer, Weiss returned to the land of the upright still fuming internally at what she considered to be an atrocity occurring to her.

"I know you're probably really mad Weiss." Ruby tried to placate her "But Jaune is just in a hurry to finally ask out Pyrrha and got a little excited is all."

Weiss could only stare back at the brunette as she struggled to put the words together in her mind. Jaune? Pyrrha? Ask out? The circle peg refused to enter the square hole as she stood there with Ruby waiting for a response. "Impossible." She finally managed "Someone like Pyrrha does not date someone like Jaune."

Ruby turned to face the, hopefully, future couple as Jaune nervously rubbed the back of his head with one hand and motioned wildly with his other. "Aw come on Weiss, it's like some sort of movie where the geek gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after."

"Life is not a movie Ruby." Was her response as she turned to walk away "It's unfair and full of unhappy endings. "

Ruby opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words as Weiss began to walk away. Closing her mouth, resigned, Ruby followed.

* * *

The chicken was far too dry, Weiss observed silently to herself as she listened to Ruby in the background of her mind. Her friend may be sweet, optimistic, funny and more interesting than anyone Weiss had ever met; but Ruby's ability to talk about absolutely nothing of consequence for extended periods of time had led the heiress to develop the ability to filter it out until something important was said. Weiss could vaguely tell that Ruby was still on the subject of which cookie she favored – simple chocolate chip, like Weiss hadn't learned that already.

"Oh, hey guys!" Ruby's word snapped Weiss out of her internal monologue and she looked over to where Ruby was staring. Approaching the table the pair had been eating at were Jaune and two others that Weiss didn't recognize. Doing her best not to sigh at the interlopers, Weiss adopted what she hoped was a welcoming smile as Ruby invited the group to sit with them.

Accepting her invitation, the four sat down and turned their attention to Weiss. Unsure of what to do, she stared back and waited for some sort of cue. Really, do they expect me to do a trick? She thought as their staring continued.

"So, you're Weiss huh?" the girl with short, orange hair asked while leaning in to absorb every detail. Weiss only nodded in response but the girl seemed to take it as encouragement to continue. "Well, I'm Nora and this is Ren and you already met Jaune. He's the one that told us all about you and how you're a mega b-mmmpphhh"

"Beauty!" Jaune managed while holding his hand over Nora's mouth "I told them how you're a mega beauty." His awkward smile only made the lie more obvious but Weiss chose to ignore it.

"It's very nice to meet you all." Weiss spoke, remembering her manners and not wanting to antagonize Ruby's other friends. Even if they were rude, inconsiderate and and in at least one case - clumsy.

Their curiosity seemingly satisfied, the four went about eating their dinner and began a conversation with Ruby. Weiss had never been a people person and wasn't feeling particularly open to the idea of changing that tonight. Not wanting to leave without Ruby though, she simply retreated back into herself and half-listened as the others talked.

"Ruby, you're doing it again." Weiss said without thinking about it as she observed her roommate wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. Such corrections had become second nature to Weiss as the two had begun spending more and more time together.

"Oh, sorry Weiss." Ruby muttered, slightly embarrassed as she picked up her napkin. Neither of them noticed the strange looks from their dinner mates and conversation began again.

Ruby would look great in a dress, Weiss thought to herself as the thought of manners caused her mind to drift to related subjects. In a nice restaurant, with candles and dinner, Weiss could picture Ruby perfectly. No heels though, she corrected her vision to bring Ruby back down to her height. Perfect.

"Weiss, do you want to go?"

Her daydream blurred as she struggled to enjoy her romantic dinner with Ruby.

"Hello? Weiss…?" Ruby's voice finally cut through and Weiss looked at the others sitting with them. She must have been deeper in thought than she imagined.

"Sorry." Weiss apologized "I must have let my thoughts wander." She hadn't meant to make it obvious that she wasn't listening and Weiss was slightly upset at her own foolishness.

"Must have been someplace nice huh?" Nora asked, becoming more and more of an annoyance to Weiss. "Judging by that smile anyway."

Weiss shook her head slightly as if to erase the smile and looked directly at Nora to tell her "Do be quiet." Not exactly the "shut up" that Weiss had wanted to say but she had been raised a certain way and her brain would simply not allow the words to come out.

"I'm just saying." Nora egged.

"Well stop." Weiss stated firmly while doing her best to prevent a blush from forming. She wasn't sure where that daydream had come from or why she was so embarrassed over it so the safest reaction was to hide it for now.

"Anyway," Ruby cut in to defuse a potential standoff "I was asking if you wanted to go to _Forever Fall _tonight with everyone?" Ruby was referring to a bar and lounge that University students frequented. Weiss had gone alone once to see what the talk was about but left within thirty-minutes, disgusted with the drunken idiots trying to hit on her.

"We can't." Weiss responded immediately "You have a test tomorrow and we need to study more tonight." For such a clearly intelligent girl, Ruby still struggled with any sort of math and Weiss refused to let her fail herself.

"But Weiss…" Ruby complained as her face started to form into her secret weapon. Weiss could not allow it to reach its final form and quickly cut her off.

"No buts, Ruby." She sounded more stern than intended but the company of Ruby's friends was making her more uncomfortable as Weiss felt them judging her. "We are studying tonight and you will not go out and…and cavort about town like a hooligan."

"Cavort?" one of the three asked aloud.

"Like a hooligan." Said another.

"You're not her mother Schnee." Weiss laughed a little on the inside as Jaune berated her, finding it funny that people always used her family name as an insult. If they only knew how true that was. "Ruby can come with us if she wants."

"No, Jaune. Weiss is right." Ruby said in her defense. "We really do need to study." Despite her words, Ruby looked heartbroken to not go out with her other friends. Weiss' heart broke in return but she refused to let Ruby make poor choices. Besides, she didn't need other friends. If she had other friends then Ruby would just leave and forget about her like before. Weiss couldn't imagine going back to the way things had been.

"Stop jumping to her defense Ruby." Jaune shot back, uncharacteristically angry "All she does is correct you and order you around. Weiss isn't your friend Ruby, you're more like a pet to her."

"I have Ruby's best interests at heart you clumsy fool!" Weiss shouted, standing up "It's you who want to hold your so called "friend" back and drag her out to some stupid bar." She was offended that anyone would question her friendship to Ruby. All that Weiss had been able to think about lately was the dolt, and this idiot would dare say that she didn't care?

"I just wanted to take her out from the cage you've put her in lately." Jaune spoke, arms crossed "We don't even see her away from you anymore. It's like you're some brat who refuses to share her toys."

"How dare you…!" Weiss fumed "I am not a brat, you insolent little commoner!" The words left her mouth and Weiss immediately wished that she could just grab them from the air and shove them back in. She sounded like a complete snobbish brat and Weiss knew it.

"See?" he said, now looking to Ruby "She's still the selfish brat from before, nothing's changed and she'll just leave you again." Jaune looked resigned, as if he had tried telling Ruby this before and Weiss didn't understand.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked but then turned to Ruby "You…you remember our summer together?" She dreaded the answer, if Ruby had been aware then why had she pretended otherwise? Was it some sort of trick? What reason could she possibly have?

The girl in question looked scared and on the verge of tears as she answered back "Yeah, I remember. I have for a while now." Ruby looked as if she would rather be anywhere but there and Weiss could relate.

Damn it! Weiss scolded herself as she fought tears. Ruby was supposed to know the nice me that she makes. Not the Schnee that's inside. Scenarios ran through Weiss' mind as she thought about Ruby leaving her alone. "Why?" she asked through the tumult of thoughts.

Understanding, Ruby answered "I thought you didn't….I didn't know what else to do. We were having so much fun together and hanging out all of the time. You would smile and I didn't want to ruin it with memories from the past or remember how you left me that summer…" Ruby seemed to withdraw more at this statement. "Our time here has been so great, but the moment anything comes up that Weiss Schnees doesn't approve of, you turn into this cold person…"

"I left you?" Weiss asked astounded "I-I.." she stammered as she struggled over what to say. They were making a scene in the cafeteria and others were beginning to watch. The smug look on Jaune's face only served to increase her misery and Weiss turned to leave. She had too much to think about and concentrating was impossible in there. Weiss made more excuses for leaving as she ran to the dorm, failing to keep the hurt inside.

Once in the room, Weiss stopped and stood still. She had never made a scene like that. Weiss Schnee did not let her emotions control her. Then who did that just now she asked herself.

The door slammed open, though Weiss didn't turn around. She knew who it was.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked as she caught her breath "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before. And I'm sorry for what I did say." Weiss didn't respond and Ruby burst out "Please just talk to me! Why does that summer upset you so much? You're the one who left with your stupid rich family. Why does that make you like this?"

"Because I left and you moved on!" Weiss shouted through the tears she was now failing to hide "I never forgot that summer. I never forgot you. But after I left you went on to live your happy, carefree life without me while I just grew more and more miserable without you."

Ruby was at a loss for words now as she slowly raised her arms but proceeded to lower them again, unsure if Weiss would accept her comfort. She had forgotten the Weiss from that summer, but so much had happened after that Weiss would understand….if she ever got the chance to explain.

"My mother died and my father became this distant figure who still managed to control every aspect of my life! I couldn't choose my own friends or studies or hobbies. I couldn't go anywhere without his approval." Weiss turned from Ruby now and faced out the window, not wanting to show her shameful tears. "And worst of all I let it change me…" her voiced drifted and lowered to a whisper "I became this vacuous bitch who couldn't trust anyone. All anyone around me wanted was the power and money I would have one day, no one cared about me for me. The more I realized this the colder I became. But you know what Ruby?"

Ruby slowly made her way behind Weiss, unsure of what to say. When Weiss didn't continue she settled on "What?" It came out as a croak though as Ruby tried to contain her own emotions. How could anyone not treat Weiss with the love she deserved? What kind of monster of a father would allow his daughter to grow up in such a cold world? Ruby found herself torn between sadness for Weiss and rage towards her father.

"I always thought about our summer together when it got particularly bad. How we would just run and talk and do whatever we felt like. It was the happiest time in my entire life and you managed to forget all about it….and me."

"Weiss I…"

"No. Let me finish." Weiss cut her off, still staring out the window and taking a moment before continuing "I wasn't even that mad when I realized this. I mean, sure I was sad for a moment but then I thought that maybe this was for the best. Maybe you wouldn't like what I had become…maybe it was better if we were just strangers." A shiver traveled up Weiss' spine. "But then you became my roommate and that was no longer a possibility. I tried avoiding you and pushing you away, and then when that didn't work I thought that we could rekindle our friendship. For a while I was happy with this, it was like old times again."

"So what changed?" Ruby ventured as Weiss let out a pent up sigh. Her voice was quiet, as if she were afraid that a loud noise would shatter the scene.

"I began to want more." Weiss stated, an angry tone entering her voice "Do you know why I get so offended when people call me a bitch or cold or whatever else? It's because I know that it's all true and I hate myself for it. I had….I had a great friend and the first ounce of happiness I've experienced in such a long time but was I content? No. I became jealous whenever you would talk to another person or hang out with them. I began to snap at the person who brought this happiness into my life all because I was a selfish, spoiled brat who could never be happy with what she had." Weiss stopped speaking now, crying silently towards the window with her arms wrapped around herself. There, she said it. Weiss had thought this would make her feel better, like some form of catharsis, but she only wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and never come out. God, had she really just admitted all of that?

"What do you mean more, Weiss?" Ruby sounded confused, but Weiss could sense the sadness. She really was an overly empathetic dolt.

"I love you Ruby." Weiss stated, her self-hatred and sadness masking any possible embarrassment "I love you and I don't deserve you at all. You were right, I really am the cold person who everyone says I am– all because I want them to feel what I do and I'm too scared to let anyone in."

Ruby couldn't herself back any longer; she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Weiss from behind. "I was wrong." she cried as she buried her face into her love's shoulder "I was angry and stupid and I didn't mean any of it, Weiss. You have to believe me!"

"I do Ruby." Weiss said quietly, not reacting at all to Ruby's embrace "I know you didn't mean it because I have never met a more kind or less malicious person. But just because you didn't mean it doesn't make it any less true."

Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Weiss, you have to stop thinking like this! You deserve to be happy as much as everyone else. You are not just some rich girl in an empty world. You bring real happiness into the lives of others and I couldn't imagine my life without you."

Weiss didn't respond to this, her eyes seemed empty as they continually stared out the window.

"Do I deserve to be happy Weiss?" Ruby asked, not letting go of Weiss' form.

Hesitation, then a quiet "….of course." escapes Weiss' lips.

"Would you take that happiness away from me Weiss?" Ruby followed up "Would you do something that would make me miserable for the rest of my life?"

"NO!" this time her response came instantly and her eyes lit up in panic "I would never Ruby!"

"Good" Ruby spoke into Weiss' ear "Because I love you too Weiss Schnee and if you ever left me that is exactly what you would be doing."

Weiss turned her head to face towards the girl she cherished more than anything "Ruby I…"

Her next words never came out as Ruby pressed her lips to Weiss' own. There was no thriving passion or raging fire with the kiss, only love. Weiss had never felt anything so amazing in her life. It was right. It was easy. It made her feel….content. That was the word, she felt like she didn't ever need anything else besides this kiss, this one moment. If only it could last forever. It didn't.

Ruby slowly pulled back from her lips, silver eyes meeting light-blue. Tears still glistened in both as they stared, silent until Weiss began to speak.

"Ruby, I…"

"Shh." It was Ruby's turn to cut her off "I think we both need some rest after today, let's just go to bed. We can talk more in the morning."

Weiss didn't want to risk ruining this moment like she did everything else and simply nodded. The two came apart and they both felt the cold immediately from their loss. Minutes passed as they changed into their night clothes and Weiss was moving towards her bed when Ruby's soft grip took hold of her hand. Looking over, Weiss saw Ruby motioning towards her own bed with obvious intentions.

A small blush crept up on Weiss' face as she followed Ruby to the bed and the two settled down into each other's embrace once more.

"I love you Weiss Schnee." Ruby repeated her words from earlier.

Weiss already felt sleep taking hold but managed to reply "I love you too Ruby. More than you'll ever know." With that she was gone and Ruby was left staring at her sleeping princess. She cherished the sight but could only fight her own sleep for so long. They could deal with everything in the morning. Ruby was certain that they could overcome anything as long as they were together.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and I'm sorry for the rushed/out of place feel. I wanted to complete this story as I don't want to leave it hanging with only the possibility of more. But hey! Now there's room for reader imagination :). I feel really disappointed in myself as I feel there is more potential here than I was able to realize and I hope to come back and add/change more. For now though, I am marking this complete until I get the magic back in regards to this particular story. **


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